Distraction techniques reduced pain and anxiety during IUD insertion
Women using virtual reality or distraction cards reported less pain and anxiety than controls, with assessment ending shortly after insertion.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Virtual reality with nature imagery and music, and distraction cards, led to lower pain and anxiety scores than the control group during IUD insertion. The findings suggest these approaches may complement procedural care. They do not establish that virtual reality outperforms cards or show the size of the pain reduction.
This abstract-based summary cannot assess the size of the pain benefit: group mean differences and confidence intervals are absent. Control care and any pain medicines used are also not described.
What researchers found
Pain on the Visual Analog Scale
Both distraction groups had lower scores than control during insertion and 15 minutes afterward. The p-value indicates statistical evidence for a difference; it does not measure the amount of pain relief.
Pain and anxiety over time
Pain scores favored both distraction approaches throughout the assessments. Anxiety was also lower than in controls; after insertion, it increased in the control group and decreased in the virtual reality group.
Satisfaction and clinical meaning
The authors report greater satisfaction with the distraction approaches and describe the pain and anxiety differences as clinically significant. Without the underlying score changes, readers cannot independently judge how much relief participants experienced.
The original publication
The Impact of Virtual Reality with Relaxation Music and Distraction Cards on Pain, Anxiety, and Satisfaction Levels of Women with an Intrauterine Device: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Toker E, Gökduman Keleş M
J Midwifery Womens Health · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41235692
- Record checked
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